SEA to Pier 91 (Smith Cove Cruise Terminal)
Light rail reaches Westlake in 39 minutes for $3, then it's 15 minutes by car to Pier 91. Compare rideshare, taxi, shuttles and cruise-line buses.
Link light rail doesn’t reach Pier 91. It stops at Westlake Station downtown, 39 minutes and $3.00 from the airport by the 1 Line timetable, and the Port of Seattle puts Pier 91 another 15 minutes away by car.
Which way fits your day
| Way | Where it starts at SEA | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cruise-line bus | Baggage claim (one traveler’s report) | About half an hour (one traveler’s report) | Bought from your cruise line |
| Rideshare | Garage Level 3 | Varies with traffic | Shown in the app |
| Taxi | Garage Level 3 | Varies with traffic | Metered, $20 minimum from SEA, with a permitted $1 on-demand surcharge |
| Door-to-door shuttle | Premier kiosk on Level 3, which lists seasonal Seattle cruise transfers. Seattle Express checks in inside baggage-claim Door 4. | Seattle Express, a different company, lists 45 minutes | Seattle Express lists $30 a passenger, Premier’s fares vary (our airporters page lists the rest) |
| Link plus a car | SeaTac/Airport station | 39 minutes by rail, then 15 by car | $3.00 plus the car fare |
For Seattle Express, check in with its airport agent inside baggage-claim Door 4 before boarding. It runs between SEA, SeaTac-area hotels and both cruise terminals. Children 3 and under ride free if they sit on an adult’s lap.
The cruise-line bus, if you bought one
A Princess passenger on the Let’s Go Travel Tips channel filmed the handover. Transfer staff wore vests and held signs near baggage claim carousels 13 and 14. They took the suitcases on the spot and loaded them on a delivery truck. The passenger showed a passport. Staff gave the passenger a color-coded card. When staff called that color, the passenger boarded the bus.
The bus ride took about half an hour with light traffic, in that passenger’s account. The same video shows a sign at the handover point saying staff won’t take medicine or a CPAP machine, so keep those with you. For a cruise-line transfer, go to baggage claim and follow the cruise bus pickup signs.
Harris Family Adventures, sailing on Holland America’s Eurodam, called a hotel shuttle that the hotel had contracted “the easiest way” to reach a port, and it worked with light traffic. Our courtesy shuttles page lists where hotel vans board on Level 3.
Driving yourself
From I-5 in either direction, take the Mercer Street exit (exit 167), continue west on Mercer onto Elliott Ave. and follow the signs to the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91. If you’re southbound on I-5, the Port’s alternate route leaves at Union St. (exit 165B), continues to 4th Ave., turns right on 4th Ave., left on Wall St. and right on Western Ave., then follows the same signs. The on-site lot has 800 spaces from $27 a day and a free shuttle to the terminal, and RVs and overheight vehicles are welcome from $47 a day. Friends and family can use the lot or the free cell phone lot.
Rideshare or taxi from Level 3
Both leave from the garage’s third floor. From baggage claim, take a skybridge one level below ticketing, then go down one level. One traveler on the Kointraveler channel showed the same route from Skybridge 5 or 6, one floor down, where taxis, rideshares and hotel buses all sit together.
Metered taxis run 24 hours. For a wheelchair-accessible taxi, use the baggage-claim level by Skybridge 2 near Door 10 or Skybridge 5 near Door 22. If you need an assisted rideshare pickup on the airport drives, call Ground Transportation at (206) 787-5906. Our taxi page has the pickup curbs, and our rideshare page covers the app pickup stalls.
At Pier 91, rideshares use a dedicated lot about a 10-minute walk from the terminal. A free shuttle takes you the rest of the way. Taxis reach the terminal entrance. Airport shuttles and private cars use the ground transportation lot near that entrance.
Light rail to Westlake, then a car
On this route you pay for a car only for the last stretch, and you carry your bags from the train up to street level yourself. From baggage carousel 16, go up one floor and cross Skybridge 6. Turn left through garage Level 4 for SeaTac/Airport Station. The free Train-to-Plane cart runs between the station and garage Level 4 by Skybridges 5 and 6, daily from 5 a.m. to midnight. It has room for bags on the back. Our light rail guide covers the station, and our downtown options page compares it with driving.
Youth 18 and under ride free. Seniors, disabled riders and ORCA LIFT riders pay $1.00 one way. The first train and the last train toward downtown from SeaTac/Airport depend on the day:
| Day | First train | Last train |
|---|---|---|
| Weekdays | 4:51 a.m. | 12:05 a.m. |
| Saturday | 4:48 a.m. | 12:06 a.m. |
| Sunday | 5:58 a.m. | 11:18 p.m. |
At Westlake, come up to street level and call a car. One traveler on the Travels Large channel paid about $22 for the rideshare from Westlake to the terminal. The Kointraveler channel put a taxi from downtown at $15 to $25 and said to look in front of Westlake Center.
The Port says public transit does not reach Pier 91, and the former Magnolia Bridge bus stop (stop 20860) and the stairs down from the bridge are closed.
If your ship is at Pier 66 instead, the Port says Bell Street Cruise Terminal is six minutes by car or 20 minutes on foot from Westlake Station.
Which lines sail from Pier 91
SEA’s Pier 91 listing names Carnival, Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, MSC, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Virgin Voyages as home-port lines.
A Holland America Eurodam passenger boarded from Pier 91 in the Harris Family Adventures video. A Princess passenger on Let’s Go Travel Tips boarded the Star Princess there, and a commenter said Royal Princess also sailed from Pier 91. Another commenter reported two Alaska sailings on Celebrity Edge from the same terminal.
What happens at the terminal
In the Harris Family Adventures video the host said the port has no porters outside, so the family took its luggage into the port. A commenter who arrived by town car on Celebrity said porters met them at drop-off.
The Princess passenger held a passport ready in line. Staff looked at it and never asked for a boarding pass or a boarding time. Screening came next, and the passenger compared it to airport security. One commenter aims to arrive around 10 or 10:30 to board early. The Harris family arrived around 11:30 and waited about 15 minutes for their group number. Terminal drop-off is busiest from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. An arrival time inside that window means a crowded curb.
If you fly in the night before
The Princess passenger stayed at the DoubleTree SeaTac and took an Uber back to the airport. The hotel’s free shuttle runs 24 hours, every 20 minutes, in that passenger’s account. For an airport hotel, use our hotels page. If you’re staying in the city, see the Seattle neighborhoods guide.
Sources
This site’s pages:
- Link light rail
- Taxis
- App-based rideshare
- Hotel and off-site courtesy shuttles
- Door-to-door shuttle, Premier Airport Shuttle
- Scheduled airporters
- Charter buses
- Seattle airport to downtown: every option and what it costs
- The Link light rail from SEA airport into Seattle
- Where to stay in Seattle by neighborhood
Official pages:
- Port of Seattle: How can I get from the airport to the cruise terminal?
- Our pages on Pier 91 (Smith Cove) cruise parking and Pier 66 (Bell Street) cruise garage
- Sound Transit: 1 Line
- Sound Transit: fares
Traveler reports:
- Kointraveler: “Seattle Airport to Pier 91 Cruise Terminal by Light Rail and Bus”
- Harris Family Adventures: “Seattle Pier 91 Cruise Terminal Guide”
- Let’s Go Travel Tips: “Seattle Cruise Embarkation, What Changed at Pier 91?”
- Travels Large: “Why Seattle’s Light Rail is a Game-Changer for Cruise Passengers”
- Company listing: Seattle Express
- Company listing: Premier Airport Shuttle