Seattle: Harbor Cruise with Argosy Cruises

 The Harbor Cruise with Argosy Cruises was fantastic, and was a great way to see FULL Seattle skyline. This city is quite a bit bigger than I anticipated. I was really nervous about doing is as I have only been on a couple of small boats and didn’t really like the experience. But almost completely last minute I decided screw it, I need to do one thing that scares me on this trip! This is after I opted to not go up the Space Needle. Honestly, I was nervous walking along the docks, but once I was on the boat I was fine. It big enough that I really couldn’t feel the motion so much.

Location: Pier 55 on the Seattle Waterfront – 1101 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98101.
Cost: $35 per adult (or save a bit with the City Pass)
Time Needed: About an hour.

I was super nervous walking down the docks, cause they swayed so much, and I think a bit of the anticipation of it.

But once I was on the boat I was fine. It was big enough that the motion of the ocean was not too bad. Again, I did take some natural calming gummies. Still not sure if its a placebo, or if it actually helped, but either way, I did it, and didn’t freak out.

Leaving Pier 55.

Large cranes.

My brain just connected that they are called cranes, because they resemble the birds called cranes. Of course I double checked, Wikipedia says that is indeed the case.

Just a small portion of the skyline. Over to the right you can see where we were earlier by reference to the Smith Tower.

Oh! You can see the Seattle Great Wheel and the Space Needle in the same shot.

The Great Wheel again.

Space Needle again. I took a lot of pictures of it.

The Seattle Aquarium. We were there yesterday.

More of the skyline.

I think this is the spot where we could see most of the Space Needle.

We were wondering about the orange top. I recall from pictures and shows, that it was all the same color?

Of course almost immediately the tour guide answered that question it is the needles 60th anniversary. When the Space Needle original opened it was in the colors popular at the time. gold, red, olive, and white. So for the major anniversaries they paint the hat one of the original colors.

Closer view.

The Edgewater. They built it hoping to host guests for the 1962 Worlds Fair but ran into several problems that delayed it. The only hotel in Seattle that sits over the water on a pier. They changed the zoning laws shortly after completion. It has a Beatles themed room and hosts Beatles themed events due to them staying there in 1964.

The Space Needle again.

An osprey flying around the boat.

Better view.

I think this was the best view of the needle above the Olympic Sculpture Park.

This one you can see one of the elevators ascending.

I think this is the PI Building. I forget which inspired which, but you may notice it resembles the Daily Planet from Superman.

Queen Anne Hill. This is the neighborhood fictional Frasier (from the show Frasier) lived in.

Another cruise ship, and I think Bainbridge Island.

Space Needle again. We don’t have anything like this back home. Closest thing I can think of is the Walker Tower or maybe Trolley Square. Oooh, or maybe the Tree Of Life. 

Not the best shot, so it is a little hard to identify, but I am leaning towards a cormorant. That would be fitting since this is totally the year of the cormorant for me.

Pier 86 Grain Terminal. Surprisingly that is Seattle's greatest export.

The building on the right is the new Expedia building.

This is where the the boats starts to turn around, and where you start getting even better views.

The Admirals House. From what I remember from the guide, there was a greater military presence here, particularly during World War 2, but this is what is left.

Ocean reflection.

Most of the Seattle Skyline.

I managed to convince myself to go out on the deck (which I didn’t particularly like) but I did get this nice shot of the full skyline. Seattle is freaking HUGE!!!

The north end.

The full thing again.

Little closer.

The full skyline again. Holy crap it is so big.

Tug boat tugging.

Panoramic of the skyline.

The tallest building in Seattle is the Columbia Center. Black building on the right. According to the tour guide, their original design put the tower at over 1000 feet. Wellllll the FCC came in and told them that they are near a major airport, with planes coming in at about 1000 feet and there are going to be some additional fees and fines. So, they gave their plans a re-look and made some adjustments. So now it sits at 967 feet.

Again, I love how Seattle just embraces their history, even when they made pretty massive mistakes.

Went out on the bow again. Wish it didn't freak me out as much as it did. My friends said they say a few jellyfish.

Stern.

Back on the bow.

Cranes.

Up until this point I thought those white arches were a bridge. But I learned they, as well as the darker ones are stadiums.

The ocean.

The city again.

Panoramic.

The City.

Huge container ship.

Cranes and the Duwamish River.

I think this is where we turned back again.

The city again.

I cropped that one in to see the Space Needle and Great wheel in one shot.

Terrible shot, but that clocktower back there is Starbucks Center, Starbucks headquarters. Fun fact: the mermaid is not a mermaid, it is a siren. Mermaids have one tail, sirens have two.

The Columbia Center and the Smith Tower. The tallest, and oldest, skyscrapers respectively.

I believe this is a coast guard boat. Forgive me it’s been a few days and we did so much on this trip.

The city again.

Neat old tower. Not sure what it is, I imagine a church of some sort.

Better view of the Smith Tower. The tour guide reiterated the facts that our previous tour guide on the underground tour mentioned. That there is a private condo up top, with a little reading nook in the ball. As well as the fact that as of 2021 it was on the market for $17,000 a month.

The city again.

The Great Wheel again.

The boat mostly abandoned.

Back to land whew! I made it! I am really glad we did this The boat is super big so it’s not like feeling every motion on a smaller boat. They serve alcohol too, so a couple beers may have helped. It wasn’t super packed, and the views of the skyline were absolutely incredible! I am glad I totally last minute decided to do one thing that scares me, because I learned I didn’t need to be scared. 10/10, 100% would recommend.