Seattle Travel Answers

Would the Mayflower be a good choice? How far would it be to walk to the Monorail from there? How far from the monorail to the Space Needle.

I know of no free shuttle from the airport to downtown. The Mayflower is a decent property. Good location for walking, the monorail is right by the hotel and goes right to Seattle Center and the Space Needle. enjoy your trip Rosalie

thanks

There is a shuttle that you can get from the airport. Look at shuttleexpress.com I have used it to and from the airport and it was very good. You can pay the driver.

A note on the monorail: it only runs 1 mile and only has two stops: The Space Needle and Westlake Shopping Mall. Cost is4 round trip, or2 for 65+, disabled or have a Medicare card. It only runs until 8:30 PM during the week so you'd need early dinner reservations if wanting to use it in both directions. Friday/Sat. it runs until 11:00 PM. http://www.seattlemonorail.com/ Hope that helps.

Oops - sorry: The hours I gave you are WINTER hours and those will expand with the warmer season.

You will find no hotel shuttles from the airport to downtown. If you don't have alot of luggge you might look at the new Sound Transit light rail line that will take you from the airport to downtown, the trip time is about 25 minutes. Public airport shuttle buses to downtown can be found at the southend of the arrivals terminal.

Since we are going on a cruise to Alaska in May (when it will probably be cold and when we know in advance that there are four formal nights), we will each have two checked and one carry-on bag. I usually use a wheelchair in the airport and I will be using a scooter on the ship. I see that I can get wheelchair assistance to get to the light rail. But given the amount of luggage we have (I will also have a cane), I don't think the light rail is a good option. Are the luggage carts free or do you have to have a couple of dollars in quarters for them? Seriously there are so many options that I am confused. I want as easy as possible transfer at the least cost that I can get away with.

Well, the easiest would most definately be a taxi, but of course not the least expensive. Secondly would be the airport shuttle bus to downtown. I would skip the light rail since this would be the most difficult for you to use out of the three suggestions.

Seattle has "Smarte Carts" and you pay. With your requirements, I would recommend a taxi just for the convenience and lack of steps.

You should ask your cruise ship company. According to the Port of Seattle web site, there are many cruise ship companies that provide this type service to their customers as part of their package. This is one of those questions about transportation from various places to the cruise ship terminals, etc. that comes up on the Seattle forum on a pretty regular basis. I have never taken a cruise, but because of the huge regularity with which these questions appear on the Seattle forum, I have attempted to research this question as thoroughly as I can without having gone on a cruise with any of the companies. I have attempted to get more information and feedback from a couple of the cruise ship companies (Holland America, among others, has a huge office complex in Seattle) but unfortunately I haven't gotten very good responses from people - not even VT members that have used my previous responses in the forums. As there are two cruise ship terminals in Seattle that are several miles apart and have somewhat different services nearby, I actually have two tips on the cruise ship terminals. Here is your best starting place: "Getting to Seattle for Cruise Ships" - Multi-Choice Tip by glabah The other cruise ship terminal is here: "Pier 91 Cruise Ship Terminal" - Magnolia Bluff Transportation Tip by glabah The Port of Seattle information is here: portseattle.org/seaport/crui... They are quite optimistic in their "Downtown to Terminal" timing of 10 minutes for pier 91. It depends a lot on the traffic conditions going on at the time this trip is taken, and 10 minutes is good for the north side of downtown. If you are coming from the south side of downtown it will take a bit longer, even under the best of circumstances. Their parking and transportation page is here: portseattle.org/seaport/crui... At one point in time there was some statement on that page about transport services that were provided by some of the cruise ship companies, but that appears to be gone now. What it says now is: Taxi/Shuttle Service Pick-up service to and from the both cruise terminals is available. Taxi service to the airport ranges from25 -40 for the approximate 20 - 30 minute drive. Shuttle service available from Shuttle Express and Grayline of Seattle

The cruise ship lines will offer transfers to the cruise pier from the airport on the day the cruise begins, not the day before or any other day. Since you are going to Seattle prior to your cruise date you are on your own.

Yes I know about the cruise ship transfers, but actually many people come in a day early and stay at the cruise ship's preferred hotel (which is the Sheraton) and then have the cruise ship transfer from there on the day of the cruise. I think you can also get transfers from the airport to that hotel. There are also cruise ship transfers from the ship to the airport, but the problem is that they charge per person and usually a taxi where there is one charge for the party of people is both cheaper and quicker.

Also, from the last time you visited Seattle, they have in operation a light rail line that goes from the SeaTac airport to downtown, through the tunnel under downtown. Obviously with lots of heavy luggage getting around downtown would be a pain once you get there, but if necessary or desirable it would at least get you to a place where it is cheaper to get a taxi to your hotel. Or, several hotels (such as the Silver Cloud Lake Union) offer a free shuttle from the hotel to various locations in downtown. If you can find a hotel that offers that to one of the light rail stations, it could save you a bit of money.