Seattle, WA
Our head waiter, Rakesh, ROCKED! He told us last night that we can get off the ship anytime after our color has been called. All luggage is color coded. Brandi and I had no idea that was true! So...we all met in the dining room for breakfast at 8am and had a last big breakfast together. It was good and we were sad to get off the ship for the last time.
Finding our luggage was not difficult at all. We found our bags, exited the most “whatever” customs known to man, and met at the shuttle waiting area.
Seriously, now I know that the only foreign country that we visited was Canada, but the customs officers could at least LOOK at our passports to make sure we are who we are...but no. you held up your passport, and before you could opon it, they waved you through. Nice security there US customs.
In contrast, when we entered the US after being in Mexico and the Caribbean, not only did they open and look at the passports, they asked us questions about our purchases and such. That’s what we expected.
So we were waiting for the shuttle...and waiting...and wiating ...and then we finally found out that some Indian family took our vans! What!? Were we offered a discount because we were waiting? NO! They didn’t even apologize. They just got us another 2 shuttle vans...sorta. They got us ONE shuttle van and then we just started loading up our stuff into ANOTHER shuttle van because it was time that we left the port in our opinion. In the words of our shuttle driver, “They are so disorganized.” We concur.
We got to Westin. Holy crap that hotel is awesome! I will try to stay at the Westin again for sure. We checked in, went to our rooms, and then 30 minutes later, met in the lobby to go to lunch at the Space Needle.
Ok...get this...to get to the Space Needle from downtown, you get to take the MONORAIL! AWESOME! It cost only $4 for a roundtrip ticket. the monorail has 2 stops. Downtown and the Space Needle. Both the monorail and the Space Needle were contructed for the 1962 World’s Fair. Neato!
We had lunch in the Space Needle’s restaurant. The prices were a little expensive, but it included access to the observation deck, so it works out that the prices are reasonable as long as you want to go to the observation deck...which we did.
The restaurant rotates. 1 full rotoation every 47 minutes. Each table is located along the wall with a spectacular view of the city. Totally cool. I have Space Needle envy now. Brandi and I read as much as we could about the Space Needle on the observation deck and that prompted me to purchase a book in the gift shop. Did you know that the motor that turns the retaurant is only 1.5 hp and that it took $4.5M in 1962 to build the Space Needle and it made ALL of that money back in only 18 months! Talk about a great investment!
Brandi and I took the monorail back to the hotel, said goodbye to Shpuck’s mom because we weren’t going to see her again, and then Brandi went to a blown glass art gallery and I went to the room for a nap. She got back a little earlier than I expected and played some solitaire on her iPhone. I tried to nap a little longer and then it was 5:15pm...time to get ready to meet the group in the lobby,
I thought we were a little late to the lobby, but we were right on time. Earlier, I asked the hotel concierge the best way to get to Safeco Field, and he gave me a little map and told me about “the tunnel.” I was thinking, “What tunnel? There’s a tunnel? What is he talking about ‘tunnel?’”
So...Seattle is VERY cool. There is a public transit tunnel system that runs BENEATH the city. It runs for FREE most of the time! There used to be a trolly system down there, but the trolleys were replaced with Hybrid-Electric busses. It was AWESOME! It took us from 3 blocks away from our hotel to 5 blocks away from the Stadium...and it was FREE!
Safeco field is beautiful and the fans were great! It was easy to find our seats and the traffic flowed well after the game. I wish the Mariners would’ve won, but we had a really good time anyway.
We started walking back to the tunnel station entrance and it was closed. I guess it doesn’t run after 7 pm...so some people took a taxi back to the hotel and some of us decided to walk. It was a 1 mile walk, up hill, at 10 at night. We made it, but it made us very tired.
Once back in the room, our heads hit the pillows and we were OUT!
Not sleepless in Seattle at all...
Our head waiter, Rakesh, ROCKED! He told us last night that we can get off the ship anytime after our color has been called. All luggage is color coded. Brandi and I had no idea that was true! So...we all met in the dining room for breakfast at 8am and had a last big breakfast together. It was good and we were sad to get off the ship for the last time.
Finding our luggage was not difficult at all. We found our bags, exited the most “whatever” customs known to man, and met at the shuttle waiting area.
Seriously, now I know that the only foreign country that we visited was Canada, but the customs officers could at least LOOK at our passports to make sure we are who we are...but no. you held up your passport, and before you could opon it, they waved you through. Nice security there US customs.
In contrast, when we entered the US after being in Mexico and the Caribbean, not only did they open and look at the passports, they asked us questions about our purchases and such. That’s what we expected.
So we were waiting for the shuttle...and waiting...and wiating ...and then we finally found out that some Indian family took our vans! What!? Were we offered a discount because we were waiting? NO! They didn’t even apologize. They just got us another 2 shuttle vans...sorta. They got us ONE shuttle van and then we just started loading up our stuff into ANOTHER shuttle van because it was time that we left the port in our opinion. In the words of our shuttle driver, “They are so disorganized.” We concur.
We got to Westin. Holy crap that hotel is awesome! I will try to stay at the Westin again for sure. We checked in, went to our rooms, and then 30 minutes later, met in the lobby to go to lunch at the Space Needle.
Ok...get this...to get to the Space Needle from downtown, you get to take the MONORAIL! AWESOME! It cost only $4 for a roundtrip ticket. the monorail has 2 stops. Downtown and the Space Needle. Both the monorail and the Space Needle were contructed for the 1962 World’s Fair. Neato!
We had lunch in the Space Needle’s restaurant. The prices were a little expensive, but it included access to the observation deck, so it works out that the prices are reasonable as long as you want to go to the observation deck...which we did.
The restaurant rotates. 1 full rotoation every 47 minutes. Each table is located along the wall with a spectacular view of the city. Totally cool. I have Space Needle envy now. Brandi and I read as much as we could about the Space Needle on the observation deck and that prompted me to purchase a book in the gift shop. Did you know that the motor that turns the retaurant is only 1.5 hp and that it took $4.5M in 1962 to build the Space Needle and it made ALL of that money back in only 18 months! Talk about a great investment!
Brandi and I took the monorail back to the hotel, said goodbye to Shpuck’s mom because we weren’t going to see her again, and then Brandi went to a blown glass art gallery and I went to the room for a nap. She got back a little earlier than I expected and played some solitaire on her iPhone. I tried to nap a little longer and then it was 5:15pm...time to get ready to meet the group in the lobby,
I thought we were a little late to the lobby, but we were right on time. Earlier, I asked the hotel concierge the best way to get to Safeco Field, and he gave me a little map and told me about “the tunnel.” I was thinking, “What tunnel? There’s a tunnel? What is he talking about ‘tunnel?’”
So...Seattle is VERY cool. There is a public transit tunnel system that runs BENEATH the city. It runs for FREE most of the time! There used to be a trolly system down there, but the trolleys were replaced with Hybrid-Electric busses. It was AWESOME! It took us from 3 blocks away from our hotel to 5 blocks away from the Stadium...and it was FREE!
Safeco field is beautiful and the fans were great! It was easy to find our seats and the traffic flowed well after the game. I wish the Mariners would’ve won, but we had a really good time anyway.
We started walking back to the tunnel station entrance and it was closed. I guess it doesn’t run after 7 pm...so some people took a taxi back to the hotel and some of us decided to walk. It was a 1 mile walk, up hill, at 10 at night. We made it, but it made us very tired.
Once back in the room, our heads hit the pillows and we were OUT!
Not sleepless in Seattle at all...