One day,nine night prior to cruise suggestions

Is there a reason to stay out at the airport? It would be easier to stay in the city when dealing with jet lag as you can more easily return to your hotel when you get too tired. Then, after a rest, you can go back out to explore more of Zurich.

Yes, the hotel is our host hotel for departure for the cruise. Therefore, it is easier to be at this hotel as they will accommodate cruise people and allow later checkout for meeting up with the cruise group. So, no, I don’t wish to change my hotel, I just would like some helpful ideas as per my original post. Thanks anyways.

Radissin Blu Airport hotel. . . . . any suggestions on how to get into the centre of Zürich from this hotel

Yes, there is a station at the airport ("Zürich Flughafen") trains depart every few minutes for Zürich city (station: "Zürich HB"), it only takes 10 minutes.

I too would not have stayed at the airport, I would have stayed in the centre of Zürich, or better gone directly to Basel (presumably that is where your cruise starts) and had a day there.
A hotel at the airport may be convenient for the cruise company as they then have everbody at one pick-up location (the airport), but probably is not the best for you. You want to see Switzerland, not the inside of an airport. Easy to get to Basel and to your ship.

I think Basel is underrated. it is a very enjoyable town. We spent a day and a half there before a river cruise and would have enjoyed a bit more time.

I think I've stayed at that relatively expensive hotel, and the train stop is very close to the hotel - maybe with one difficult access road crosswalk. I forget the ticket details, but if you're not familiar with European practices, make sure you validate your ticket properly. I can't believe they're bussing you all the way to Basel as another poster noted. They booked an airport hotel for the convenience of river cruisers who don't want to transfer independently to a city center. For one day, I'd rather be in Zurich because it's slightly more concentrated and walkable, IMHO. I personally like art museums, and I'm sorry I missed Sigmar Polke's [contemporary but dead German artist] abstract church windows in Zurich.

My question is: Is the hotel at Zurich airport and the bus to Basel included in your cruise price you already paid? If so, I'd stay put and buy a day ticket, basically double the price of a one way ticket to Zurich Hbf. There is the Swiss National Museum across the street from Hbf, if you have an interest in Swiss history. A boat ride on the Zurichersee. The Kunsthaus is the art museum with a decent collection of European paintings from Medieval to Modern, but best is Swiss artists not commonly seen elsewhere. Take the tram from the Hbf, your day ticket will be valid for that.

There is a big Swiss Tourist Office in the Hbf if you are looking for ideas when you arrive.

I think many of the cruise companies work that way. They provide a bus direct from Zürich airport to the cruise boat, and back to the airport at the end. It is one of their selling points, door-to-door service, no thinking required. Some of the cruise passengers are the sort of tourists (present company excepted) who would be too nervous to find their own way; they want "protecting" from those strange people speaking foreign languages and from restaurants where they can't understand the menu. If you told them "its easier by train", they would not book.

I have also seen many cruise passengers using public transport from Basel station to their boats (and given some directions), you get both sorts.

In Basel, I have even seen buses provided to get the cruisers from the boat to their walking tour round the city. WTF, it's only 4 stops on the tram, which is quicker as the bus has to go 3-sides round the city centre because it is pedestrianised.

There is a nice self-guided walking tour of Zurich in the RS Switzerland book. We plan to use it when we’re there next spring. It basically takes you from the Hauptbahnhof down to the lake. It might be available at your library.

If you get in early in the day and the weather is nice, Lucerne is only an hour train ride away. Pretty town on the lake surrounded by mountains. Nice old town section, covered bridges, Franciscan church, Mt Pilatus is nearby if you have the time.

Ok, thanks everyone for the input, some good (Kathy, Suki, Chris for train info). I should mention that we are experienced travelers and have seen a good deal of most of Europe on our own, with RS and traveled SE Asia and Central America and have no problems with transport of the various countries we have visited, THE reason, I asked my original question is yes, because we are doing a riverboat cruise and then embarking on several weeks in Amsterdam, Belgium, Germany then London. Simplifying the first 24 hours is all I was doing. I now realize that staying in Zurich is maybe the best route, and depending on the cancelation policy of aforementioned hotel, will try to do just that. After 16 hours of transit, I do not want another train trip to another city, we will see lots of lovely cities. Please, can I get some info then on well placed central hotels in Zurich and maybe a few good restaurants. Something to help our short stay along.

We stayed for a night at Leoneck Swiss Hotel. I'm pretty sure it's in the RS Switzerland book. We walked from the train station, about 10 minutes, but there is a tram that goes right past the hotel to the station. Another tram, directly across the street goes to the airport and runs frequently. That may have been about a half hour ride because it's a commuter line. After we checked in, we walked back to the center, and crossed over into the Old Town. There were lots of restaurants in the area. We had lunch at Pulcino, an Italian restaurant. I wanted to make it to the Lake for a boat ride, but that was our last day of vacation so we did some souvenir shopping instead. We had dinner at the hotel, Bar 8001, which has fresh, local products. the room wasn't huge, but was nicely decorated.

Va from Va - nicely done, thanks. Will check this out.