My wife and I will be taking the Alaska cardplayer cruise out of Seattle, 5/20 to 5/27. I'm having a tough time figuring out the pre- and post- cruise time in Seattle.

Our flight from Florida arrives in Seattle at 1:30pm on 5/19, so we have to find overnight lodging with transport from the airport to the lodging and then to the cruise port (Pier 91) the next day.

For our return on 5/27, the cruise ship docks at 6:00am and our flight out isn't until 11:00pm. So we have a whole day to do sightseeing in Seattle, but will have all our luggage with us and aren't up to dragging it all everywhere.

We like to do cultural attractions like museums, gardens, historic places, churches; as well as thrift or antique shops. We're also not young, so have limits on strenuous activities or packing in a lot of activities.

I've considered one-day car rentals in Seattle at both ends of the cruise. This would allows us flexibility on where to lodge the night of 5/19 (so we don't have to stay downtown at $200+ for the night in order to be near the sightseeing attractions); and will give us a place to keep our luggage while we do sightseeing the day of 5/27. However, I've read that driving and parking is a big problem in Seattle.

Is renting a car a bad idea? (Runs about $60 for each day, with pick up at airport and return downtown, and vice versa on the return.)

What are the best options for sightseeing attractions in the limited time windows we have?

What do you suggest for our itinerary, lodging, transport, attractions, logistics, etc.?

I'd recommend skipping the car rental on the front end unless you have specific activities planned that require it. Uber/Lyft are a pretty good option once you're in Seattle. Depending on where you decide to stay, you can take the light rail from SeaTac into the city and then Uber/cab/walk to your hotel as distance dictates. You may need the car on the back end, unless you're able to find a hotel that will check your bags for a nominal fee.
Have you been to Seattle before, or is this your first time?
SAM is worth a visit, if you're so inclined.
There are lots of good options food and beverage wise, recommendations will vary based on your price and formality preferences. Picking one of the Tom Douglas restaurants wouldn't be a bad choice. Let me know if there's a specific cuisine or experience you're looking for. ZigZag does excellent cocktails.
The Space Needle is super touristy, but has a nice view if the weather cooperates. Our zoo and aquarium aren't super exciting.

Thanks so much for the info! I already concluded the same thing - to skip the car rental on the front end and just use uber/lyft. I am planning to use them for the ride from the airport into town as well as I think it will be too hard for us to maneuver all the luggage to get to and use the light rail.

SAM is on our docket, as well as the Seattle Repertory Theatre. Can you recommend a decent Thai restaurant somewhere in the vicinity of the theatre?

We have an AIRbnb apt rental about 5 blocks from the Space Needle for our overnight on the 19th. I also booked an cheap AIRbnb room rental in Burien for our return day in Seattle, so we have a place to camp out after we do our sight-seeing and before our late flight out. Know any decent restaurants out that way for dinner - doesn't need to be fancy?

I hadn't considered finding a hotel that would check our luggage for the day on the return. I'll have to check into that. Would you happen to know which hotels have a free shuttle from the cruise dock? It may still work out better to rent the car since we have to get to Burien and then the airport, in addition to getting around to SAM and whatever other attractions we hit that day. Still, I'm a bit concerned about the ease of parking downtown.

Sounds like an awesome trip with the cruise and visit to Seattle, please make a trip report when finished!

I live in Seattle and I can say if you rent a car make sure you leave nothing inside both in the day and night. Smash and grabs are an epidemic and happening to tourists and locals a lot at this moment. Uber is really good to get around Seattle as most places are close. Im not sure if they are picking up at the airport right now, but think they just passed a law to allow it and is coming real fast.

Food is pretty great all over Seattle. You'll have no trouble finding places if just roaming around in any of the main hoods.

Seattle is one of the best places I've lived, but there is a darkness with a huge homeless population and things seem to be getting worse with petty crime and other worries building up.

cruise tip: buy waterbottle caps on amazon to fill up water bottles w/ alcohol and bring them on board, muuuch cheaper

Started this current trip I'm on with an Alaska cruise, was a great time - have fun!

For seattle being a noob I'd rec. space needle on clear day, pike's place, and EMP is amazing

Will do on the trip report. We are planning to leave our luggage in the trunk of our rental car when visiting the Seattle sites on our return day. Do you think that's a bad idea? Are the smash and grabs mainly just when something is exposed on the interior of the car?

I think that is ok. It seems they are triggered by what is exposed.

If you have down time check out the University of Washington famous cherry blossom quad, its stunning. Also Bruce Lees grave is a close visit from DT.

Wow- that sounds great. But won't the end of May be too late for the blossoms?

Im not sure of the cycle, but they are unreal now. Here is a pic from another location on campus. IMO is worth visiting campus if the trees are not blossoming, as its really beautiful, plus if u go on nice day all the coeds will be there in daisy dukes and other states of almost naked, asian spinner central.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1673/2...366aa4e6_k.jpg

Nice!

Here is my trip report, as promised. You can read my poker cruise report, in the Cruise Ship thread:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=248

For Seattle, we signed up for Uber and Lyft beforehand to get their promo discounts: Uber $15 off first ride w/referral code (lasts one week); Lyft $5 off first ten rides w/referral code (lasts a few weeks). Both my wife and I signed up for Uber so we ended up with three $15 off rides - one each for first ride, plus one extra because I got an extra one after her first ride from my referral.

We did an Uber from our airport arrival to our downtown Airbnb apartment. Too tired from the 9-hour plane trip to do anything, so just relaxed for the afternoon until we went out to the Seattle Rep Theatre for a 7:30pm show (used lyft to and back) - which was great. In the morning we Ubered to Breakfast Bitch for a great breakfast. Then walked to Pike's Place market a block away for a stroll down the flower market - wonderful! Then walked to the Seattle Art Museum a block away. The museum was great - must-see for art lovers. Then Lyft back to the apartment and Uber to the ship, which got us aboard about 2:00pm. With all our promo discounts, it costs us $33 total for all the Uber and Lyft rides, plus tips, most of which was the ride from the airport to the apartment ($23 after the $15 discount).

Upon return, we took the free shuttle from the cruise terminal to the downtown Alamo car rental location. Had made an advanced reservation for one-day rental of a compact for $48, including free return to the airport location. They also gave us a free upgrade to economy size. Drove to the University of Washington. Cherry-tree blossoms were over, of course, but still worth a drive-through the campus of its architectural beauty. Then drove to the Seattle Asian Art Museum - another great museum. They also have lovely gardens, and views of the city.

Next drove to our Airbnb in Burien, near to the SeaTac airport. We weren't staying overnight but was worth the $36 to have a place to crash before our red-eye flight. Had some great food at Huckleberry Square restaurant. Visited the SeaTac Botanical Gardens nearby - small but wonderful. Everything was in bloom, including all the rose bushes. One of the most enjoyable botanical gardens we've visited (which is many). Car rental return at the airport was easy, with a quick free shuttle trip to our airport terminal.

That's all, folks!