I Traveled From New York City To Seattle For An Alaska Cruise

A Dream Come True

Finally, and after 1 year in the making, the day was here. We were going to Seattle to embark in a 7 Day Alaska Glacier Cruise, on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, still one of the biggest cruises that go to the 49th state.

It had been my and my mom’s dream to visit Alaska since forever, and this is why I surprised her with this very 7 day cruise, and the chance to go to Seattle, one of the cities we had not visit yet together. It was a warm May 27, 2023, in New York. I decided to flight to Seattle the day before the cruise, at a reasonable time, so we had some leverage in case the flight got delayed or cancelled. The time difference was also playing in our benefit.

We went to JFK and after passing security, the Delta Airlines plane was already waiting for us.

On the way to Seattle

Boarded without complications and I gotta say that Delta is still my favorite airline in the US. The legroom was good.

Once again I was saying goodbye to New York City, I would come back in around 9 days.

Manhattan looked gorgeous today. I was going to miss the heat of the late Spring in New York City, but we were bring enough coats too for Alaska.

The service during the flight was good, some drinks are snacks were served. I had a chance to sleep and also watch some pre-downloaded YouTube videos. I usually do not watch from the in-flight entertainment. Closer to landing we spotted the Mount Rainier covered in clouds. Upon the return from Alaska we would see it more in HD.

The plane started to descend and the bay of Seattle looked so pristine and gorgeous. Definitely we were in the West Coast.

MarQueen Hotel

We landed and after a confusing time retrieving the checked suitcases, and then finding the spot for the Ubers. But we made it to the hotel. MarQueen Hotel in Downtown Seattle. When we arrived, I actually apologized to my mom for picking up this hotel. The first impression was not good at all. I had booked this hotel a year in advance and I was wondering why I picked it back then. The hotel lobby looked very dated and there were no elevators. We had a few suitcases but fortunately there was a room in the second floor. They gave that one, and we went inside of the room. My view of the hotel changed completely when we got in.

Wow, this hotel room was very bright and HUGE. It had a kitchen, a living room, a dining area. It had everything and more. I fell in love.

No wonder why I picked it, I had forgotten about the amenities on the room. We were going to only tonight anyways, and were going to try to adjust to the new time.

After getting ready, we left to explore the city. My mom wanted some new shoes for the cruise, even though I was against it because I always recommend breaking them in with days in advance of any trip. We went to Nordstrom and the stores around, and then walked to the famous Pike Place Marketplace.

Exploring the city

Here we saw the oldest surviving Starbucks (the first one burned down) and the line was so long that we left. But the market was really beautiful.

And definitely it was under construction a lot.

We walked back up and took an Uber to the downtown, just to see the Space Needle and surroundings. I had a reservation for the day we were coming back, and you can see it right now.

In this area, we started to feel hungry and we went inside the Seattle Center Armory to get some food.

The entire place was a nice surprise, and even though at 6:30 PM many places were closing or already closed, we found a nice restaurant for some wings and fries. The wings were VERY spicy, and my mom decently requested them to be changed for a mild version. They were so nice and gave us a ton of mild wings replacing the other ones, WOW.

We walked back to the hotel, passing by the Space Needle, which we would see tomorrow from the cruise, and since it was going to be a long day, we decided to go bed early. You can read the craziness of Day 01, Embarkation Day of the Cruise, right now.