The Pacific Northwest is a travel destination in its own right. As first-time cruise ship passengers, we treated the Emerald City as a self-directed, major shore excursion on our Alaska cruise. Touring Seattle before the cruise was definitely worth the time!
We flew from DFW into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on June 26 with a sailing date for the 29th. This gave us three shore days before we had any sea days and we made the most of that time. Since we wanted to get more than a glimpse of downtown Seattle from an airplane, we did our own planning and extended several days on each end of the inside passage trip.
We booked Hotel Andra for the pre-cruise and an Airbnb for the post-cruise stays. This worked out famously because we had several ‘musts’ (Fremont Troll on N 36th Street, the Museum of Pop Culture- especially the stature of Chris Cornell on 325 5th Ave N) and several other ‘would-like-tos’ (the Space Needle, Pike Place Market with the original Starbucks), and this gave us the flexibility to adjust our days without feeling rushed. Both stays were within walking distance of many of the places on our list. We could take a break and relax without increasing anxiety while touring Seattle.
The easy pace we chose enabled us to see the items on our list. On our very first day there, we booked and took two Seattle tours. The beneath the Streets Underground History Tour was my favorite but don’t miss the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. The tour guide was excellent and we discovered places we wanted to come back to later.
Before setting sail from Pier 66 on the Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal, we experienced some natural wonders including Puget Sound, the Cascade Mountains, and Lake Washington. On our return, we visited some of the city’s iconic sights like Pioneer square. We found this method to be a great way to follow our whims at whatever pace we chose.
The major cruise lines running from the Port of Seattle are Princess Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, and there are some smaller outfits like Argosy Cruises. The cruise industry draws visitors from all over the continent, and for that matter, the world. This was our first cruise (more on that in later posts!) but we already have another one scheduled and cannot wait to get back on the boat!
Your next cruise will undoubtedly leave from a fantastic city. We would love to learn about your experiences in touring Seattle or any other port city. Drop us a note in the comments below!
Thanks for reading about our time touring Seattle!
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