This was our first time cruising NCL, we usually cruise RCCL. (We actually sailed on the S.S. Norway, which was an NCL ship, but a completely different experience almost 20 years ago.)

Pre-cruise - Traveled to Seattle (SEATAC) the afternoon before departure and used the light rail rather than UBER/taxi to get downtown. (Some people might have difficulty with the long walk to the train from the luggage pick up area.) This only cost $6, so was a very easy way to get into town. Train was almost full, but still room for my husband and I and 4 small/medium suitcases. Not many people get on between the airport and downtown Seattle so shouldn’t be a problem even if it is almost full when you board the train. Got off the train at Westlake for a short walk to the Mayflower Park Hotel. ($215) Great service at the hotel and great location. Just a few blocks walk to the Public Market, a lot of restaurants and shopping nearby and access to the monorail.

They offer $10/pp? shuttle to the pier. (NCL had given us an option of a "check-in" time, so I selected 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. Should have realized that regardless of what NCL said, there was no way that I would be getting on the ship any earlier than the typical 11:30 - 12:00 time frame.) Because of this, we skipped the shuttle - the earliest they offered was 11:00 a.m.? and we took a cab. Only would have been a few dollars, but the traffic line to drop us off was jammed because of the trucks loaded with ship's supplies trying to turn into port. I believe had we arrived at our usual 11:00 a.m. time, these trucks would not have caused as much of a problem, but am not sure about this. We ended up getting out of the cab 1 block north and walking the last block to the Terminal. Read more