Sea-Tac airport hotels for a Seattle cruise

A hotel near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport suits a late flight in the night before you sail, or a night before an early flight home. Princess and Virgin Voyages both suggest flying in a day before the cruise. The trade-off is the ride to the ship: about 25 minutes to Pier 66 and 35 to Pier 91 without traffic on our measurement, and the port allows 30 to 40 minutes from the airport to either terminal.

The table compares the nine Sea-Tac hotels we could check on their own websites, nearest to the airport first.

Getting from a Sea-Tac hotel to the ship

Only one of the nine runs a cruise shuttle. At the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Seattle-Sea-Tac Airport, National Town Car takes guests to Pier 66 or Pier 91 for $25 a person each way, booked at the front desk.

From the others, the options are the ones in the airport guide: Seattle Express runs seasonal shared shuttles to both piers from SeaTac-area hotels, or you can take a taxi or a rideshare. Your cruise line's transfer usually leaves from the airport itself, so check whether it would mean going back to the terminal first.

Park, stay and go

Several airport hotels sell a night with parking for the days you're away. None of these is a cruise package, and none we found includes a ride to the port.

• DoubleTree, Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center and Hilton Garden Inn offer Hilton's Park, Stay & Go: book one night and park for up to seven nights, with a shuttle to and from the airport. Hilton says some of its hotels also serve nearby cruise ports and tells you to check with the hotel.
• Coast Gateway Hotel sells Park & Fly stays with 4, 7, 10 or 14 days of parking and one night's room. The cars go to MasterPark Lot B, a secured lot about a mile from the hotel.
• Radisson Hotel Seattle Airport sells 3-day and 7-day Park and Fly packages. Its site showed them at $214 and $289 a night for a 27 October stay, and the 7-day terms box is empty, so ask what's included.
• SureStay Plus by Best Western names a Park, Sleep & Go package without publishing the details.

Check that the parking covers every night you'll be away. A seven-night cruise plus the night before is eight nights.

Free airport shuttles

All nine hotels have a free airport shuttle, and the Hilton Seattle Airport is across the street from the terminal, a five-minute walk according to the hotel. The Coast Gateway, Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn Express & Suites and SureStay Plus say theirs runs around the clock.

After the cruise

If your flight is the same day, the port's Port Valet takes checked bags from the ship to your airline if you enroll in time, so you don't have to carry them to the airport. The airport guide covers the transfers back.