We signed up for the American Cruise lines tour and stayed at their hotel pick, the Crowne Plaza, in downtown Seattle. Very nice hotel. Probably above our pay grade any other time. They let us unload our bags and then drive to the parking garage. No place to park at Crowne Plaza unless you valet at $50 a day. As a side note, the cruises are set up more to fly in rather than drive in. We drove but be prepared for parking near the pier for $22 a day. We parked where the ship was leaving from and walked back to the hotel. Transportation may be required depending on the departure site. We stopped by Pikes Market on the way and had trouble finding a nice sit down restaurant that wasn't stuffed with people. (it was Friday) We later found out we should have headed for the wharf for many nice places to eat and watch the sunset. The hotel stay also included a bus tour of Seattle the next day which I felt was a bonus.

We lucked out with the weather but not with the fall colors. Abnormally warm weather delayed the colors changing. Minor problem. We barely got rained on for 7 days. The ship christened in 2005 was clean and just the right size. There were about 80 guests and 20 crew. The small size was why we picked this cruise.

There were a lot of seniors on board but not all. Entertainment was geared toward the older set. The dress code is apparently not set in stone but I did notice some changed attire for the cocktail hour and dinner. Food and drinks were great of course and included in the fare. Read more