Hotel near Port of Seattle About This Page:

[threeboys]

Any suggestions or advice on which hotel to stay at near the Port of Seattle. We are not renting a car, so would need transportation from the airport to our hotel and from the hotel to the port. Do the hotels offer transportation to the port like they do at Port Canaveral?

Anxiously planning our Alaskan Cruise and would love any advice on making the trip truly magical.

Thank you.

[pixie08]

From my understanding there are not many hotels near pier 91. We got lucky and got a great deal at the Sheraton via Hotwire which is a Disney partner hotel. This means if we choose we can use their shuttle service to the port, but most likely we will cab it to save $ but for the 2 of us it may be worth it because they take your luggage and what not.

[Dave Marx]

Not only are there "not many," there are no hotels at all within a mile (or thereabouts) of Pier 91 (Smith's Cove). However, no matter where you stay, paid shuttles are available, usually at around $12 per passenger (shuttles from the airport to cruise terminal are around $18 per passenger). I haven't come across any hotel providing a free shuttle. Some hotels have regularly scheduled (paid) shuttle stops on cruise days, but any concierge/front desk/bell staff will be able to get a taxi or shuttle pickup for you. From downtown Seattle, most hotels are within 2-3 miles (as the road twists and turns) from the terminal. You can even take a guided tour of the city that either picks up at the port post-cruise, or during the trip from the airport or downtown on the way to the cruise terminal.

If you're thinking about a car rental, there are no rental offices anywhere near the cruise terminal, either. Alamo/National/Enterprise (same corporate parent) has the official concession for the terminal, and has a rental desk in the terminal, but you have to take a free shuttle from and to their downtown office (about 2.5 miles distant) to either drop off or pick up. Other rental companies may or may not provide shuttles - some have been known to add a surcharge to the rental, others don't charge.

[pixie08]

Thanks Dave!

I think (But Dave would know better) that the DCL affiliated hotels are the Sheraton and the Fairmont. All that means is that you can use the Disney provided transport ...at a cost , which is what i was referring to (sorry I type slower then I think). The thing is, it is waaay to expensive in my opinion. Yes they take your luggage, but it is over $30 a person. I think you can probably catch a cab for the cost of one person on the DCL transport.

[Dave Marx]

Booking pre/post stays through the cruise line is, as far as I'm concerned, a matter of paying for peace-of-mind. You pay for the cruise line's endorsement of the hotel (by buying "more" hotel than you might otherwise have purchased), and you may over-pay for transfers. Now, if the $30 per person includes airport transfers as well as cruise terminal transfers, the price is spot on - $18 airport-to-hotel, $12 hotel-to-pier.

Would DCL let you buy hotel-to-pier transfers from a "DCL hotel," if you don't book the stay through DCL? Maybe, but probably not. But savvy individuals booking on their own may save enough on lodging to pay for a stretch limo to the pier, so does it really matter? Independent transfers to the port? Bell services brings your bag down in the morning, puts it on the bus (or in the limo) for you, porters take the luggage on the other end... DCL's luggage handling services don't provide a particular benefit in that case, other than saving a few bucks on gratuities.