Sailing from Seattle: Emerald City emerge as a new gateway to Alaska - cruise lines embarking from Seattle

Cruise Travel, March-April, 2003 by M.T. Schwartzman

An earthly paradise ... a jeweled setting ... a verdant landscape.... The cruise lines have been going all out lately to promote their newest Pacific Northwest gateway: Seattle, also known as "The Emerald City." Hyperbole aside, Seattle is an excellent choice for embarking on a cruise to Alaska, and provides certain benefits over the more traditional gateway of Vancouver.

American-flag; small-ship lines like Cruise West, Clipper Cruise Line, Lindblad Expeditions, and Glacier Bay Cruiseline have for years scheduled cruises out of Seattle. Often these have been positioning cruises to or from Alaska in the spring and fall, or in the case of Cruise West, a season-long series of voyages. That small-ship trend will continue when the Empress of the North from American West Steamboat Company makes her debut. This riverboat-style vessel, the first paddle-wheeler to cruise Alaska in more than 100 years, will inaugurate service this summer from Seattle on 11-day cruises bound for Juneau, with return trips reversing the itinerary.

Until recently, though, Vancouver was the primary choice for a big-ship cruise of Alaska's Inside Passage. But in 2000 Norwegian Cruise Line became the first company to base a cruise liner in Seattle, when it deployed the Norwegian Sky on seven-day cruises to Alaska. Since then, the number of passengers passing through Seattle has more than tripled, from 119,000 to a projected 400,000-plus in 2003. To handle the burgeoning demand, the Port of Seattle is spending $16.5 million to construct a second cruise terminal in time for the upcoming season, when four big ships from three cruise lines will homeport in Seattle: NCL's Norwegian Sun joins the Norwegian Sky in offering seven-day Inside Passage cruises, as Holland America Line's Amsterdam and Princess Cruises' Star Princess also sail weeklong Inside Passage voyages.

The primary advantage of cruising from Seattle is convenience. If you're flying in, you can avoid the three-hour-plus bus ride from Seattle/Tacoma Airport to the piers in Vancouver. You'll also save the $45 to $50 transfer fee. You still have to get to the piers, which are centrally located in downtown Seattle, but passengers who purchase a fly/ cruise ticket will have their airport transfers included in their fare. If you make your own air arrangements, you can still buy a transfer from the cruise line for less than $20.

Of course, if you're within driving distance, the advantage of Seattle is proximity, and the city's emergence as a preferred embarkation point is just part of the growing trend toward "drive-to" home ports that require no flight arrangements. The practice of taking a cruise from embarkation points that are close to home "has boomed in the past year and is expected to continue," according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the New York-based marketing group that represents 23 major cruise lines. In fact, the number of people driving to the ship has surprised NCL, according to Andy Stuart, the line's senior vice president of marketing and sales. "It's higher than we thought it would be," he reported, adding "the local market is very strong."

For those who don't want to drive but don't want to fly either, Seattle offers still another option--AMTRAK, which serves the city from as far south as Los Angeles and as far east as Chicago. And Holland America Line has arranged for its passengers to receive up to 25 percent off their train fare.

If there's a disadvantage to cruises originating in Seattle, it's the need to call in Victoria (a Canadian port) in order to satisfy the terms of the Passenger Services Act, which requires foreign-flag ships to call at a nearby foreign port when sailing roundtrip from an American port. The call in Victoria is typically short, from the early evening to midnight in most cases, which is nevertheless time to explore downtown or take a shore-excursion. Of course, this may not be a disadvantage if you've already cruised Alaska and seen most of the major ports or the idea of visiting Victoria appeals to you--it is, indeed, a lovely city.

Overall, though, the cruise lines agree that cruising to Alaska from Seattle is an idea whose time has come. "We thought it was obvious to offer. Seattle as a choice alongside Vancouver," said NCL's Stuart, who cited convenience as the major factor in the line's decision. From a marketing point of view, opening Seattle as a departure point to Alaska was "a tremendous opportunity," he noted.

Ships, of course, need a place to dock, and passengers need to be processed. On both counts, the city has made it easy for the industry by providing the necessary infrastructure, according to David Giersdorf, HAL's senior vice president of marketing and sales. "Seattle was very aggressive as a community," he said. "They built a beautiful terminal in downtown Seattle, and voted to build a second" that will accommodate further expansion. Civic pride also factored into HAL's decision. "Holland America is headquartered in Seattle with 1,100 employees," Giersdorf noted. "We had the opportunity to put our flagship the Amsterdam in our headquarters city and to help Seattle develop as a significant new option."