Seattle Cruise Port: Pier 66 and Pier 91

Seattle’s cruise ships tie up at two terminals three miles apart on Elliott Bay: Pier 66, on the downtown waterfront within walking distance of the aquarium and Pike Place Market, and Pier 91, at Smith Cove below the Magnolia hillside to the north; between them, a free shoreline path runs through two waterfront parks.

Pier 66 downtown and Pier 91 at Smith Cove

Pier 66, the Bell Street cruise terminal, sits on the downtown waterfront at the foot of Bell Street in Belltown, and mainly serves Norwegian Cruise Line. From its doors the waterfront promenade runs south toward the aquarium and Pike Place Market, and the main Seattle guide climbs from the piers up into downtown.

Pier 91, the Smith Cove cruise terminal, is the larger of the two and handles most other lines, including Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America, Celebrity and Carnival. It stands about three miles north of downtown, at the foot of the Magnolia hillside, and the streets around it are industrial, so most passengers leave by taxi or shuttle; the shoreline path toward downtown starts at Smith Cove Park beside it.

The Seattle Aquarium’s tropical reef in the Ocean Pavilion

The Seattle Aquarium stands on Pier 59, about ten minutes’ walk south of Pier 66 along the waterfront promenade, and opens daily at 9:30am, early enough for a morning off the ship. Its main building covers the sea life of Puget Sound, the inlet Seattle sits on, with an underwater dome and harbor seals and sea otters, and across the plaza the Ocean Pavilion, opened in August 2024, holds The Reef, a habitat of nearly 500,000 gallons stocked with tropical fish and sharks from the Indo-Pacific. Prices change with demand, roughly $40 to $50 for an adult; an aquarium entry ticket can be booked ahead, or the Seattle CityPASS covers it along with the Space Needle and three other attractions, for a free day before boarding.

The shoreline path through Myrtle Edwards Park and Centennial Park

North of Pier 66, beyond the Olympic Sculpture Park, the Elliott Bay Trail, a paved path for walkers and cyclists, follows the water through Myrtle Edwards Park and Centennial Park for about two miles to Smith Cove Park beside Pier 91. Halfway along, the conveyor of the Pier 86 grain terminal reaches out over the path to load ships, and looking back, the Space Needle and the downtown towers line up across the bay. On a clear day, the Olympic Mountains stand across Puget Sound to the west.

Both parks reopened on June 4, 2026, after a 15-month rebuild paid for by private donors: Myrtle Edwards Park gained wider beach coves, both parks new step-free paths down to the beaches and Centennial Park’s rose garden, and Centennial Park a cedar pavilion named haʔłali, “the good place” in Lushootseed, the language of the local Coast Salish peoples, with a café open from 8am to 5pm. A story walk of carved boulders, based on the Coast Salish calendar of 13 moons, winds through both. The parks are free and open all day.

Bag storage and checked-bag service at the cruise terminals

Both Pier 66 and Pier 91 run same-day bag storage for disembarking passengers, around $5 to $6 a bag, with bags to be collected by about 3pm to avoid a late fee. Passengers on Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess and Royal Caribbean can skip the bags altogether with Port Valet, a free service that collects checked bags on board the night before and delivers them to the airline at the airport, with boarding passes issued on the ship; only the airline’s own bag fees apply. For a later pickup than 3pm, or a free day before boarding, a luggage storage point downtown near Westlake is the alternative.

The airport train leaves from Westlake, a 20-minute walk from Pier 66

The 1 Line light rail runs from Westlake station, in the middle of downtown, to SeaTac/Airport station in 38 minutes for a flat $3, about a 20-minute walk uphill from Pier 66 or a short taxi ride. At the far end, about 1,200 feet of covered walkway crosses the parking garage to the terminal, so allow an hour from Westlake to the check-in desks. From Pier 91 a taxi or rideshare to the airport takes 30 to 35 minutes in normal traffic, and shuttle companies run from both terminals.